A few problems...

[Chris101]

My dad gave me his '99 Contour. It's got some quarks with it, but it's not too bad overall.

First problem, After the tank gets to around half, it's not possible to pass people and it bucks whenever I come around corners and such. It used to do this around 1/4 tank, but after almost 2 YEARS with no repair it's just gotten worse. It needs to have just over 1/4 tank of gas or else it completely dies. I've done some reading and found there's a screen or something that gets clogged in the fuel pump and it just eventually burns itself up over time. I replaced the fuel filter last Summer, and it didn't do much. I just want to be sure it is indeed the fuel pump before I shell out $132 for a new one. Is there anything I can do that can verify this?

Second problem, the transmission shifts kinda rough. 1st to second isn't so bad, but 2nd to 3rd is usually rough and it kinda revs a bit before it actually shifts. 3rd to 4th isn't bad. I've noticed when I accelerate from a stop and then coast just before it shifts into 3rd, the tranny slams into 3rd pretty hard. I can prevent this from happening if I give it a little gas while it is shifting. I know the fluid is WAAAAAAY overdue for a change. The car was bought with 32,000 miles on it, and it's now got 122,000 and the only fluid that has been changed is the oil at it's regualr intervals.

Third problem, the ABS is way to sensitive, it's always doing it's thing no matter what the road conditions are or what speed I'm going. It was kinda dangerous to drive it at highway speeds because the brakes would hardly respond when firmly pressed to avoid the occasional dumbass. I pulled the ABS fuse and the brakes work just fine. No ABS obviously, but I hate it anyway.

It hasn't had the best maintenance and I'm wondering if I should just fix the biggest issues with it and sell it, or keep it. If I do keep it, I know I need to do the following things:

Tranny flush and fill
Coolant flush and fill
Air filter
Cabin air filter (stinks when the heat is on)
T-stat
O2 sensor
Fuel pump
PCV valve
Rotors and pads

I changed the plugs and wires last year when I did the timing belt. I plan on going through the whole car this weekend to see what ever else is wrong with it (probably lots), but I think the biggest issue right now is the fuel pump. Thanks in advance and any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.

'99
122,000
2.0l

[pre98zetec]

sounds like a issue with the TSS which will cause very rough shifts.

[Chris101]

Where is it located? The manual I have shows where the inhibitor switch and turbine sensor is, but only mentions the TSS.

One more thing, when I work on the fuel pump, would it hurt to just get the pump for $132, or is it necessary to get the whole assembly which is almost $100 more?

[pre98zetec]

turbine sensor is the TSS, I've never changed a fuel pump on a contour so I wouldn't know.

[beyondloadedSE]

Originally Posted by Chris101

Where is it located? The manual I have shows where the inhibitor switch and turbine sensor is, but only mentions the TSS.

One more thing, when I work on the fuel pump, would it hurt to just get the pump for $132, or is it necessary to get the whole assembly which is almost $100 more?

Just get yourself the fuel pump. Its kind of a pain in the butt to replace. You have to pull the rear bench seat out and cut the metal with tin snips and pull back the sheet metal to expose the fuel pump container. After thats its straight forward. By the way, you can get yourself a walbro fuel pump for about $90-100. The retainer clip that holds in the pump needs to be widened a bit, but it will save you $40 in the long haul.